Research reports

Nature’s Calendar records provide scientists with crucial evidence about the effects of climate change on wildlife.

Changes to the timings of natural events can threaten our wildlife, leading to mismatches in food webs and throwing nature out of step in the future. Find out how researchers are using Nature's Calendar data.

If you'd like to use Nature's Calendar data for research, please get in touch. All our available historic data can now be found on individual species event pages.

Current research

Ongoing research projects using the Nature's Calendar data

Find out about ongoing projects that are currently using Nature's Calendar data.

Published research

Tritrophic phenological match-mismatch in space and time

Burgess et al. 2018, 21/06/2018

Scientists have been studying the effect of earlier springs on feeding relationships in deciduous forests. Concerned about the impact of rising temperatures linked to climate change, they studied the links between oak first leaf, caterpillar activity and bird nesting. The findings have been published in the respected scientific journal, Nature Ecology and Evolution, entitled Tritrophic phenological match-mismatch in space and time.

Estimating the ability of plants to plastically track temperature-mediated shifts in the spring phenological optimum

Tansey et al. 2017

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh used more than 200,000 Nature’s Calendar records to explore whether plants will continue to leaf or flower at the best time for growth (also known as the optimum phenology), as temperatures rise in the future.

Can bird abundance declines be detected by citizen science programmes? A case study using Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus

Phenological sensitivity to climate across taxa and trophic levels

Thackeray et al. 2016

For climate changes predicted for the 2050s, the changes in seasonal timing of phenological events are likely to be greatest for primary consumers. This threatens the synchronisation of interactions between trophic levels.

Join thousands of other people and let us know what's happening to wildlife near you.

Have you seen your first butterfly or swallow of the spring? Is it a good year for wild autumn fruits? Take part in Nature's Calendar and help scientists to monitor the effects of climate change on wildlife.